Article: Breaking down how the 82gm schedule breaks down a players body

This is just the intro. The rest is in the link. It's a good read.
_________

"TO THE UNTRAINED EYE, Kristaps Porzingis looked fresh and rested as he walked into the Quicken Loans Arena for a late-December game in Cleveland. And for the first three quarters, he played that way.

But even if the 20-year-old rookie phenom looked good on the outside, on the inside his body was surely a mess. For the past three months, it had been systematically trashed by the NBA's silent killer: its grueling 82-game schedule. New York had just come off a three-games-in-four-nights stretch, which had come on the heels of a three-games-in-four-nights swing through Utah, Sacramento and Portland. Not surprisingly, Carmelo Anthony had rolled his ankle late in a game two nights earlier and was now out.

Sure enough, by the fourth quarter, the hormonal, mental and physical aftershock of the Knicks' schedule emerged into full view. With a minute left, Porzingis, who had scored 23 points in the first three quarters, had yet to score in the fourth and was visibly dragging. The Knicks trailed by four and needed a stop. And with the entire arena on its feet, LeBron James -- coming off a luxurious, if rare, two days of rest -- made his move. From the left corner, LeBron darted toward Porzingis before rising up for a sky-high one-handed slam. Instead of challenging James at the rim, Porzingis ducked away, like a matador. The Cavs would win by seven, with the Knicks mustering just 12 points in the fourth, tying their then-season low.

For the NBA, LeBron's slam was the stuff of dreams: A superstar soaring for a game-clinching dunk is the very thing that sells tickets, spikes ratings and launches Vines. But here's the thing: It almost never happens, and for reasons most people don't realize.

As it turns out, the fourth-quarter dunk is a rare phenomenon. From the 2005-06 season through 2014-15, there were nearly 5,000 fewer dunks in the fourth quarter compared with the first, a decline of 20 percent. In fact, dunks become rarer with each passing quarter: from an average of 1.98 in the first to 1.59 in the fourth. More fascinating: The overall frequency falls 24 percent when teams play on zero days' rest versus one day off, dropping from 5.5 dunks per game to 4.2. The upshot: It took a dog-tired Knicks team on the road against a fresh Cavs squad to produce that James highlight.

It's merely one of a hundred signals that NBA players are exhausted and sleep-deprived. In this case it was to the benefit of the highlight makers. But the evidence suggests that, over the course of a season, all players -- and fans -- end up losing.

[url]http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14757066/nba-schedule-breaking-players[/url]

Duh, everyone knows that playing so much basketball at such a high rate will break down anybody's body. These are great athletes making more money than most of us could even imagine. Players in the past had it much much worse and complained a lot less. These are men don't feel sorry for them. They are making really good money.

Funny how the "grueling" 82 game schedule only became a problem in recent years despite these athletes having all possible advantages/comforts as compared to decades ago. Plus there's like 9 days between playoff games now. Cry me a river.

The real men who played in the 80's/90's/00's didn't bitch about this stuff.

The dunk statistics are misleading because a bunch of factors explain the disparity between quarters, mainly better defense.

[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Funny how the "grueling" 82 game schedule only became a problem in recent years despite these athletes having all possible advantages/comforts as compared to decades ago. Plus there's like 9 days between playoff games now. Cry me a river.

The real men who played in the 80's/90's/00's didn't bitch about this stuff.[/QUOTE]

It was definitely an issue back then, you just didn't hear about it as much because there was less media coverage and no social media.

I'd like to see you play 82 games, let alone 1.

I don't mind 82 games, anyone else mind? No? 82 games it is.




/thread

how about practice?

[QUOTE=Bosnian Sajo]I don't mind 82 games, anyone else mind? No? 82 games it is.




/thread[/QUOTE]

Ofcourse I mind it. There are many others that mind it too. But players don't want to play less games if it means a proportional decrease in earnings.

because these guys also have a fairly wild lifestyle when they are not on the court.

I have no sympathy. A pro athlete getting paid millions should handle playing 82 games easily.

Dirk Nowitzki, nearly 38 years old, playing over 31min a game, being chased through the hall court every night.

just a joke the fvcking mavs.

[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Funny how the "grueling" 82 game schedule only became a problem in recent years despite these athletes having all possible advantages/comforts as compared to decades ago. Plus there's like 9 days between playoff games now. Cry me a river.

The real men who played in the 80's/90's/00's didn't bitch about this stuff.[/QUOTE]


This. All this.

[QUOTE=Relinquish]It was definitely an issue back then, you just didn't hear about it as much because there was less media coverage and no social media.

I'd like to see you play 82 games, let alone 1.[/QUOTE]


Bruh, we used to ball for FREE in the summertime. You didn't get a break until your team lost and the other squad had next. No time outs, no commercials, call your own fouls.

I WISH I coulda played in the NBA back then and got paid for it.

We [COLOR="White"][SIZE="1"]not [/SIZE][/COLOR]talkin about practice?!? Practice?

[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]

The real men who played in the 80's/90's/00's didn't bitch about this stuff.[/QUOTE]

And they're dropping dead on a monthly basis. Your heart can only take so much punishment.

[QUOTE=OldSchoolBBall]Funny how the "grueling" 82 game schedule only became a problem in recent years despite these athletes having all possible advantages/comforts as compared to decades ago. Plus there's like 9 days between playoff games now. Cry me a river.

The real men who played in the 80's/90's/00's didn't bitch about this stuff.[/QUOTE]
this, limit the defense, anti-hack rules, limit the number of games,
then the players will compete in the games through the Xbox without leaving home

Compare it to boxing and the NFL.

:hammerhead:

Playing with sleep deprivation is a ****ed up thing to do. Not only you can't focus well on the court, but you lose coordination and your motor skills take a hit. No wonder many players have off nights so often. In the past it was different because nowadays players have busier schedules when it comes to sponsors and TV appearances. Back then only the major superstars had sponsors.

LET THE PUSSIFICATION OF THE NBA CONTINUE!!!

What a frigging joke!!! I guess traveling first class, having teams of trainers and nutritionists, playing in state of the art arenas, having playoff series with no back to backs, playing at a snail's pace compared to the 1980's and launching 40 3's a night are causing HAVOC on these pampered pansies bodies!!!

RIP NBA!

Drop to 60 games, extend the 3pt line to 25 feet, raise the rim, put Lebron in the West.

Excess money has made these guys SOFT!!!

George Gervin talked about how the modern players are so fundamentally flawed that they don't even know how to fall properly to avoid injuries. It's all athleticism and flash!

Studying and mastering the fundamentals of the game instead of working on cross overs and euro steps could not only prevent injuries but extend careers.

[QUOTE=Showtime80']Excess money has made these guys SOFT!!!

George Gervin talked about how the modern players are so fundamentally flawed that they don't even know how to fall properly to avoid injuries. It's all athleticism and flash!

Studying and mastering the fundamentals of the game instead of working on cross overs and euro steps could not only prevent injuries but extend careers.[/QUOTE]

Well, this is very true.

[QUOTE=Haymaker]And they're dropping dead on a monthly basis. Your heart can only take so much [B]cocaine[/B].[/QUOTE]

tbh.

problem these days isn't that players are more athletic, as athleticism contains stamina, resistance, recovery rate and many other things that right now are at an all time low in the modern era. The problem is that players are more explosive. And they aren't more explosive because of better genes (even if ish 13yo will-be-scientists disagree :roll: ).

There is a simple progression in MJ steps to the increased explosiveness at the expense of everything else (older dudes like me saw this shit live):

1. the league wants more cash =>
2. the league wants more highlight plays to get more cash from casual and global fans =>
3. league opens up the lane and gets rid of defensive rules, to heavily favor explosive "highlight" players =>
4. teams put more value on athleticism because they want to win by exploiting the new rules =>
5. explosive but less sturdy players are more likely to make it to the nba =>
6. wanting to make it to the nba all players (super explosive or not) start doing heavy plyometrics and other explosiveness increasing exercise, not doing heavy training on stamina or fundamentals =>
7. the level of fundamentals drops, which combined with the open lane leads to more dangerous type of plays =>
8. players get injured faster and earlier in their careers, making freak athletes the best bet for front offices =>
9. poor "dunk or 3" basketball of the 00s=>
10. casual fans "marbury > magic", "young jordan>magic", "griffin>gasol" get in the market because the game is more accessible to their impaired bball intellect =>
11. the league got a bigger market and can increase the costs of the tickets, ushering in a new era of customers, from the old school basketball savvy fans to the new school corporate mainstream soccer mom/ fagggots/ hipsters and so on. And the league wants to protect its newfound cashcow =>
12. with a decreased financial pressure from old school fans the league imposes further "superstar" rules to protect best assets further handicapping the defense =>
13. attack the rim wings benefit HEAVILY, multiplying across the league, players get much more interested in corporate benefits (brands, market, stans) than the game itself =>
14. combined with their greater exposure to injuries (more contact, heavier bodies, verticality and superstar rules making it hard to play proper ball without monkeying in the air) real bigmen start to REALLY take a toll and gradually almost disappear =>
15. death of post game and of the traditional big and the rise of the mobile athletic-rim-protector-catch-alleyoops big. =>
16. the lane is wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open, blocks become mostly weakside blocks from almost equally sized players (thus no more laimbeer destroying mj, but more josh smith trying to block kobe) There is no more fear factor when attacking the lane. Refs give free throws like candy for wings=>
17. a drastic decrease in constant physical interaction (hand checking, playing with constant body-to-body contact) and a drastic increase of event based in-the-air physical interaction (finishing at the rim) and forced events (flops, acrobatic attacks of the rim, looking to get a free throw, not to score).
18. even more dangerous play and even more and more brutal injuries but also more lackadaisical play and collusion to minimize effort=>
19. the rise of ultra specialized tactics (floppers, rip-through, illegal screeners), ultraspecialized players (harden-ft begging, curry-3pter) and the space and pace game =>
20. freak injuries are here to stay and less talent will actually develop since many will get in the league by explosiveness (what you young people call athleticism) alone, and they'll lose roster spots with injuries =>
21. for this kind of grown players 82 games is way too much but the league won't decrease the number of games because of $$$ =>
23. freak injuries are here to stay, in this ADHD audience, pussified "brand">game players, no real teams or rivalries league.


Some notes:
- The bastardization created by globalization can be seen in the european market, where the 90s and 00s brought great fundamentally trained talent but the 10s are barely bringing anything (casualised market) .. seen this live in germany.
- new school teams wouldn't match the constant physicality of old school teams (80s, early 90s), it isn't something they are accustomed to. All this new school optimized skill would plummet in a long hard series against an old school contender, where the lack of flexibility of the new school game would be obvious (no midrange, no post especially).
- the bastardization of the game GREATLY increases freak injuries

The future:
- there are always players that will handsomely adapt great fundamentals to the skill economy of the game (curry, green, porzingis, towns) and there are always teams that nicely adapt fundamentals with new rules (spurs, gsw, big 3 heat ) but make no mistake about it, the league will look to further bastardize the game to tap the asian market.
- expect less minutes and larger rosters
- expect more moving screens (3p, gsw's real secret)
- expect less defense (through rules) and less downtime from fouls (modified rules for FTs - they are already here) as the new audience was bred for ADHD.
- floor lights up, stands light up, mascots multiply, they'll make it a fcking circus tbh.
- collusion is JUST in its infancy, we'll get more super teams and more tim donaughy like action

On the bright side:
- betting is getting better and better :rockon:
- collusion leads to great teams and great series


TLDR the league destroyed the game banking on "explosiveness" and flash over "resilience" and grit in order to maximze audience. #globalization

There was a time when teams had to play 82 games and ride coaches to travel, now that takes a toll.

BRAVO SWAGGA!!!!! One of the most comprehensive posts on the decline of the NBA post 1990!!!

There is literally NO TURNING back from this spiral unless the league takes away the 3 point line, puts in the old defensive rules (no blood no foul) and LITERALLY forces people to go back to basics from a young age.

The NBA has NO OTHER TRUMP CARD to compete with the NFL and MLB than to market individual stars, that's it!

[QUOTE=swagga]tbh.[/QUOTE]

And also this. Cocaine was to the 80's what weed is to this generation.

The main problem is that rampant use of steroids and HGH puts undue stress on ligaments in the body which does not grow alongside the increased muscle mass. This leads to all the injuries we're seeing-

Less doping, less injuries.

This is actually one of the main reasons why Durant will consider going to the Warriors. Durant- 37.9 MPG career average. Curry- 32.7 and 33.8 MPG under Kerr. Kerr shares POP's philosophy about resting players. Durant will be able to sit out 4th quarters and some back to backs on long road trips. It's all about extending your career. Kobe broke down because of MDA abusing his minutes. Rest is essential.

Injuries are part of every game/sport. Even golfers get hurt. There is absolutely nothing they can do to prevent injuries except maybe cancel the entire league. Even in a 60 game league players would get hurt.

**** these dudes. Guys used to play 30 unpaid preseason games because the owners needed the gate money to pay for the rest of the season. One of the old unions fought to reduce it to a max of 20....and keep them from being played within 3 days of the regular season. You used to have back to back to back....to backs....riding an unmodified bus that ****ed up the legs of tall people....and you played the whole game in the preseason...for free....with no team doctors....no gatorade...drinking water....wearing shoes that were just cloth...and you might have this epic string of back to back up until game day starting the season....because the exhibitions were used to promote the league.

And then they start a season....some people played 45 minutes a game....every game...dont miss a second of the playoffs...and go get a side job during the offseason.

Oscar once played 18 preseason games....44 minutes a game playing 80 games...47.5 minutes a game in the playoffs....then worked on the construction of a church all summer. And his minutes increased each of the next 3 years...peaking at 46 a game and 49 minutes in the playoffs(played every second of every game plus OT). And they were running even more than today....more shots taken...more trips up and down the court.

Really....look at these ****ing shoes Oscar played in:


[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbdZmvwQD4A[/url]

Hes playing in 8 dollar Family Dollar store canvas shoes! Those are the shoes your grandma wore when she took you to the park as a kid. Hes gotta layer vaseline and extra socks on just to keep his feet in one piece.

And you know his daily per diem to eat on at the time of that video? 1 dollar. Bob Cousy led the union in a near strike to get the NBAs up to 7. Players today have 3 team buffets a day, free room service, free access to the best equipment, a squad of trainers to get you ready and keep you healthy, first class flights, and world class accommodations.

And even when they did have a nice spot....sometimes not everyone could stay. You know at one point Oscars team stayed at a hotel that didnt allow blacks? Did the team change the arrangement to suit him..the best player anyone had ever seen? No. They all gave the place their business....and Oscar had to go sleep in a nearby college campus dorm that allowed coloreds. Team in a hotel. Oscar....6'5''...on a borrowed twin bed a student let him use.

The NBA minimum pay today could setup someone smart with their money for life in 3 years.

Those players....even many in the HOF...needed summer jobs. Jerry West...worked in retail. Oscar Robertson worked in construction. These guys making 20 million a year, spending it somehow, and being coddled from 16 to 40. Lebron was driving a damn Hummer in high school....

But todays players have it tough and need even more accommodations? Less minutes....games off for rest...


Stars in the past had to play every game because their teams might fold with bad attendance. Elgin Baylor literally saved the Lakers from going out of business. You HAD to play when you could to keep the doors open. Which is probably why he flew coach across country to wherever the Lakers happened to be the season he was also [B]in the ****ing army[/B]. This guy....was leaving his army base on weekends...flying across the country to meet the team...often playing moments after landing(He was late to some games)...drop 40(it was his highest scoring season...he wanted them to win every game the army let him play) back to back get back on a plane...and go back to the base.

Im not saying....these guys dont get tired. You get tired at work. Thats how it goes when you do an even somewhat physical job. What im saying is....

When the compensation and accommodations are so amazing....they will get by. Even if they dunk less in 4th quarters.

I wanted to read the article before commenting.

Just a few thoughts:

1) The article specifically mentioned that the league is just now starting to do more research into how the schedule and sleep, etc, affects injuries and fatigue. I just wanted to point that out to everyone that says the "good old days" didn't complain about this, etc.

2) The article mentions some seemingly strong data, such as dunk stats, injury stats, and suggestions of little, to no, sleep. What they fail to do, however, is to offer any other possible suggestions as to why said issue may be taking place.

3) Similarly, the article mentioned increased games lost to injury by star players, from as early as 2009 as opposed to today. Yet, again, the article fails to mention any of the factors... what were the average MPG then and now? What was the average travel like, then and now? Etc.

I came away from the article thinking that it was well written, and provided a credible argument ON THE SURFACE... but any strong argumentative or research paper will provide more evidence, and back up their claims, as well as speaking to the possible other theories and they affect that may have had.

For instance, dunks go down as the game progresses and injuries increase as the game progresses... could it be that the game is just too long? Or that the players are fatigued as they play? That seems most logical, but it was not a point that was mentioned.

Also, lack of sleep was mentioned quite often. Yet the article never explained how an athlete that has, even worst case scenario of one game a day, fails to get enough sleep. Consider...
They play a 48 minute game in a, roughly, 150 minute span. There are 1440 minutes in a day. Travel from LA to NY takes 7 hours, which is 420 minutes. So after accounting for travel time and game time and the mentioned (in the article) 9 or 10 hours of sleep (600 minutes)... 1440 - 420 - 150 - 600 = 270 minutes left over, otherwise known as four and a half hours.
Now, that's an extreme example, as that individual slept 10 hours, flew cross country, and were active for all 150 minutes of the broadcast time of a game (lol). And they still had nearly 5 hours of down time in which they can eat, relax, use the restroom, do some light lifting, watch video...

So, article, please tell me how/why athletes are sleep deprived. If it's because their coaches regularly come into their rooms with air horns and wake them up military style, sure, I'll listen. But if it's because they're acting selfishly and foolishly, and choosing to live a party lifestyle during the season? Please don't expect me to cry any tears.

Present this data to the athletes and their coaches, and let them make, or not make, the necessary adjustments. But don't expect me to feel bad for someone that has the time to make it happen and chooses to not.

The one piece of data that I am not attempting to dismiss, however, is the hormone level piece. That's relatively telling. But it sounds as though that data goes back to the lack of sleep.

TL;DR -- The article presented a fine case, on the surface, but digging deeper, it's pretty much BS. Is the 82 game schedule, in 169 days (their data) ideal? Probably not. But it should be better now than in the 50's and 60's, etc, and athletes just need to make better life choices.

From an old post comparing the condensed 2012 lockout season's schedule to schedules from the 1960's:

[QUOTE=jlip]There is considerable talk about how tough the condensed 66 game schedule is going to be on teams with the increased back to backs and even a few back to back to back sets. Understanding that, I decided to look at the schedules of teams during the 1960's to see how they compared to this season. Here are two examples.

[B][U]1960 Boston Celtics[/U][/B]- 75 total games

The schedule in Nov. and Dec. were somewhat normal, but things got seriously hectic in January. They played a total of 18 games in January including:
5 in a row from Jan. 1-5
3 in a row from Jan. 29-31
3 additional back to backs

In Feb. they played a total of 19 games including:
3 in a row from Feb. 5-7
4 in a row from Feb. 18-21
4 in a row from Fed. 23-26
3 additional back to backs

They played a total of 20 regular back to backs the entire season, most of which were in different cities.

[B][U]1961 Philadelphia Warriors[/U][/B]- 79 games
In Nov. they played a total of 17 games including:
4 in a row from Nov. 9-12
5 in a row from Nov. 15-19
4 in a row from Nov. 26-29
3 additional from back to backs

In Jan. they played a total of 17 games including:
4 in a row from Jan. 12-15
4 in a row from Jan 26-29
2 additional back to backs

In Feb. they played a total of 20 games including:
3 in a row from Feb. 1-3
4 in a row from Feb. 7-10
4 in a row from Feb. 15-18
3 in a row from Feb. 21-23
5 in a row from Feb. 25- Mar. 1

3 in a row from Mar. 3-5
3 in a row from Mar. 9-11
The played a total of 9 regular back to backs that season.

To put this in perspective, I don't think that any team this season will be playing 20 back to back sets. Also I know that no team is going to play more than 3 back to back to back sets. There will be no team playing 4 or 5 nights in a row at all. This kind of brings a new found respect to players such as Wilt and Russell who were playing these tough schedules while logging 42+ minutes per game, traveling coach instead of 1st class, and had no trainers on the road with them.[/QUOTE]

Lower it to 42 with at least 3 days between games.

These dudes shouldn't be forced to suffer like this.

[QUOTE=Showtime80']BRAVO SWAGGA!!!!! One of the most comprehensive posts on the decline of the NBA post 1990!!!

There is literally NO TURNING back from this spiral unless the league takes away the 3 point line, puts in the old defensive rules (no blood no foul) and LITERALLY forces people to go back to basics from a young age.

The NBA has NO OTHER TRUMP CARD to compete with the NFL and [B]MLB[/B] than to market individual stars, that's it![/QUOTE]

MLB is hardly watched as is, especially by young people. Don't even get me started on the 162 game schedule they have...